Jeong Dongyoung: "Met Yoon Youngho Once While Out of Office... Allegations of Receiving Money Are Groundless"

Jeong Dongyoung, Minister of Unification, denied the allegations on December 11 that he received money or valuables from the Unification Church, calling them "groundless rumors." Minister Jeong was previously mentioned on a list of politicians who allegedly received bribes, based on testimony by former Unification Church World Headquarters chief Yoon Youngho during an investigation by Special Prosecutor Min Junggi's team.

Jeong Dongyoung, Minister of Unification, who has been identified as a party involved in allegations of bribery related to the Unification Church, is responding to reporters' questions as he arrives at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on December 11, 2025. Photo by Jo Yongjun

On this day, Minister Jeong released a statement through the Ministry of Unification, saying, "At around 3 p.m. on September 30, 2021, I met Mr. Yoon for the first time and had tea with him at the Unification Church headquarters Cheonjeonggung in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province." He added, however, "Since then, I have never contacted or met him again." He also emphasized that at the time of the meeting, "I was neither a member of the National Assembly nor holding any public office."

Minister Jeong also strongly denied rumors of any contact with Han Hakja, President of the Unification Church, stating, "I have absolutely no acquaintance with her."

Regarding the circumstances of his visit to the Unification Church headquarters, he explained, "While returning from a trip to Gangwon Province with seven or eight friends, including Kim Heesu (Chairman of the Peaceful Unification Leaders Council of North Jeolla Province and former Chairman of the North Jeolla Provincial Council), who is a high school classmate, we made a brief stop at the suggestion of one of the companions." He added, "While the group toured Cheonjeonggung, I had tea for about 10 minutes with former chief Yoon and other Unification Church officials, during which we had a general conversation about unification-related topics."

Minister Jeong expressed his displeasure at the allegations, stating, "In my 30-year political career, my name has never once been associated with any incident involving money or valuables."